Malaysia, a Country private to the world. A Country full of Christians either asked or maintained to be quiet. Little did we realize or know before we entered the laws made and upheld by authorities over written information ‘For Christians Only.’ Each bible marked and followed with its own tracking number, so in case it falls in the wrong hands it can be reported and followed upon with an arrest of the owner. All Christian literature must be marked with a sticker or stamp reading, “FOR CHRISTIANS ONLY.” They say in Cambodia, “To be Cambodian is to be Buddist!” but here in Malaysia, I would imagine a similar quote being, “To be Malaysian is to be Muslim!” A Country dominated by Islam, is fearful to accept and embrace anything new, exspecially the Christian faith. There is freedom to worship, if and only if you are already a believer, but it is not ok or safe to witness, evangelize or share your faith. Many people fear loosing this freedom all together. Churches are small and common, but they are almost hidden from sight. Often stuffed up in the upper buildings above store fronts. Bibles are treasures, they are protected, guarded and valued as they are very difficult to get.
We pray this month we treasure our Holy Book more. We pray we share more boldly our stories and the story that brought us here originally. We pray we can bless our host family by serving in their restaurant and building relationships with their staff that want discipleship. We pray we can bless the Burmese refugee schools that we will be teaching in, and the home churches we’ve been asked to be apart of.
